


No Good Deed

by smiles2go



Series: Fairy Tales [2]
Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Angst and Humor, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-13
Updated: 2013-01-13
Packaged: 2017-11-25 08:57:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/637223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smiles2go/pseuds/smiles2go
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are Rules to be followed. Debts to be paid. It’s a bit late to be concerned about your Honor. If you didn’t want to be in this situation, then you shouldn’t have gone to the mortal realm in the first place, let alone get captured and have to beg a Sentinel to free you.  Repaying a life-debt is not supposed to be <i>fun.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	No Good Deed

**Author's Note:**

> Standard Disclaimer: Not mine
> 
> This is set between Jim releasing the fairy and Blair showing up at the hospital masquerading as Dr. McKay.

~0~  
“Blair? Blair of the House of Sandburg. Come forward and Stand before this Council for judgment.” The deep voice echoed throughout the crowded hall. Whispers began flying everywhere and the sound of nervous wings filled the air before the voice thundered again.

“BLAIR! Come forward at once!” The whispers stopped as if cut by a knife and there was total silence as Blair pushed his way through to the front. As if by magic, bodies moved aside, wings were tucked in and a clear path appeared. Staring at his feet, Blair shuffled forward until he reached the empty space. The silence was absolute; he couldn’t hear anything over the sound of his own anxious breathing. Eventually glancing up, Blair caught a glimpse of the stony faces studying him from the ornately carved platform which was just a large tree stump in reality and sighed. It was going to be worse than he’d imagined.

They sat behind a long, narrow table and glared down at him while he gulped and tried to smooth his wings down with shaking hands. He never should have told anyone about the Sentinel or his trip to the mortal world. No one had missed him anyway. His mouth opened and closed before he gave up and shuffled his feet. Not knowing what to do with his hands, he clasped them tightly to hide the shaking. Hearing a collective sigh, Blair dared to peek up. 

“You’re Blair of the House of Sandburg? You?” The High Lord King stared down at him in disbelief. “Not a servant sent with a message?” Lifting his head to stare at the ceiling, The High Lord King sighed and closed his eyes as if praying for… something.

A titter rose behind him, hastily silenced when the High Lord King turned his glare on the others crowded into the room and banged down a heavy gavel on the table in front of him. “Silence!” Easily heard to the back of the back of the room, there was immediate silence.

“Yes your Eminence. I am Blair. Of… of the House of Sandburg.” He said proudly ignoring the fact that his mother was the only other member of his House left and he had no idea where she was and hadn’t seen her for years.

“So.” The High Lord King leaned forward, balancing both hands on the table. “You’re the one who let himself become indebted to a Sentinel in the … _human_ world?” His Eminence twisted his mouth in distaste around the word. Blair swallowed and nodded.

“You had to go and bother a Sentinel? Not a human – any human – where there would be no Debt involved?” The old hag on the Lord High King’s left spoke, peering at him over round spectacles that enlarged her bloodshot eyes to an alarming degree. She pursed her lips and shook her head. Blair swallowed and shrugged, dragging his eyes back to the High Lord King’s face. “Hmmmmpf.” 

“A Debt to a Sentinel cannot be ignored.” The High Lord King announced and the others nodded their heads in agreement. “You must return to this Sentinel and satisfy the Debt. It is a matter of Honor. Of Fae Honor.”

“How… I mean … how do I do that?” Blair asked, looking around. He knew nothing about the Law. How was he supposed to satisfy a Debt? What happened to simple kindness of strangers? Apparently that didn’t count when the stranger was a Sentinel. But no one else would have heard him. No one else would have found him and set him free. His shoulders slumped in defeat. There went his summer.

“You owe the Sentinel a Life-Debt.” The voice of doom. Blair thought it sounded as if he had to sacrifice his life for the Sentinel. If that was true, what was the point of his saving it in the first place? This was beyond the boundaries of logic.

“I … He didn’t say—” Blair spoke up hesitantly.

“We are not savages to ignore the LAW!” The old hag lurched to her feet, outraged. “You will pay the Debt! Or lose all Honor! You will be exiled and your House stricken from the records!” She sat dropped back down on her chair and lifted her chin daring him to say a word.

Blair shuffled his feet and lifted his own chin. He wasn’t without Honor. He was grateful to the Sentinel. He just didn’t see why he had to give his own life…

“I never once said I would not pay the Debt your Highness. I merely indicated I do not know how. I await your instruction.” He knew his face was red, but he held his ground and thought he saw the High Lord King hide a smirk behind his hand.

“The Sentinel’s greatest need is a Guide. He has none and is lost and confused about his new abilities. You will be his Guide and set him on the path he is to take. HOWEVER… you must never let him see you in your true form or let him find out what you are.”

“You are responsible for seeing that no harm comes to the Sentinel. He’s the first in a long time as humans measure and deserves all the protection we can offer. That being said, you are not to display any magic whatsoever in the human realm for any reason. And…” He pointed a long, bony finger at Blair narrowing his eyes to slits. “… no fairy dust. Am I clear?”

“Yes Your Eminence.” Blair nodded dully. No fairy dust? How the hell was he supposed…

“Naturally someone will be along now and then to check up on you. Perhaps your own mother if she can be located.”

Blair’s face perked up at that. He hadn’t seen his mum in _forever._ “Do you know where she is?” He asked excitedly, accidently flittering his wings and lifting a foot off the floor. A fireworks fizzle in his face sent him hastily backwards, bumping his bottom on the stone at the feet of the crowd behind him. 

“Sorry! Sorry!” Scrambling to his feet, Blair kept his eyes respectably lowered. You never knew how these old bastards would take some imagined slight against their… eminence-ness. He heard a couple exasperated sighs, but when nothing further occurred, he dared to look up. 

“Try not to embarrass yourself, youngling.” The aged crone who so far hadn’t spoken said almost kindly. “And make sure you do not embarrass us.”

“Yes your Highness.” Blair bowed and started to back away.

“Where do you think you’re going?” The High Lord King slammed the gavel down. Blair froze.

“There is more, much more you have to know before we can let you loose in the human realm.”

The old hag nodded her head gravely. “But I believe it should be imparted in private. Blair of the House of Sandburg, report to our chambers one hour before sunset. We must make certain you understand every Rule before you will be allowed to depart.”

“Mind you’re not late.” The aged crone gave him a toothless smile and Blair bowed again. “You have a lot to learn youngling.”

~0~

He owed the Sentinel a debt. He got that part. The part he didn’t get was why he had to repay it like this—stumbling around in a ginormous human body that _couldn’t even fly._ He could’ve rewarded the human with treasure, money, art objects, or even love. But n _ooooooo,_ the Council declared the human’s greatest need was help with his out-of-control Sentinel abilities. A Guide no less. He wasn’t a Guide! He was one of the free folk. How on earth was he going to survive being tied to one place—one human even if he was a Sentinel. 

To make everything worse, this body had to be buried under layers of cloth at all times! And his feet! Blair scuffed one boot in the dirt. His feet were covered in cloth and then on top of that, dead animal skin was tied on. He shuddered every time he remembered. He felt huge and clumsy and heavy and hot—he couldn’t feel the breeze on his skin and how he was expected to live like this … 

With a sigh, Blair reached up and ran a hand through his hair. Or rather what was left of his long, beautiful hair. The majority of it had been left lying on the ground, most likely blown away in the breeze. By now it was probably tucked into some bird’s nest. He sighed and resolutely pulled his hand away. Apparently another failing of humans. They didn’t have long hair. He’d convinced them to leave it down to his shoulders, but even then, when he transformed all his bits would be on show. It was downright shameful.

He didn’t even want to think about his ears. Round. _Round._ The shapely points to his ears were gone. Round. He shuddered and shook his head, hoping what little hair he had left would cover them. He’d tried poking in a few earrings to disguise the mutilated _roundness,_ but he still couldn’t bear look at them in the mirror. Round. You’d think that was the worst thing, but it wasn’t. On top of everything else, he was wingless. No one told him he’d be disfigured during this life-debt thing. He might not have agreed, he thought darkly. Law or no Law, Debt or no Debt. It wasn’t fair.

In the end all his arguments stuttered to an end when one of the wizened old freaks asked if his life, his freedom wasn’t worth helping a mortal out for a little while. Well, yes of course it was but … okay fine. The Sentinel who’d set him free and saved his life from who knows what terror need help that he could provide and what kind of fae refused to honor a Debt? _Fine._ He’d do it, but he wouldn’t like it. After all, what could a human body do that could possibly be more fun than flying? 

And the rules… who knew there were so many rules in being human, not to mention the edicts the Council added top of all that. 

_Teach Him How to Control His Senses._ Apparently, this Sentinel had all five senses out of whack. The Council had grouched and grumped but eventually handed over a few books to get him started. Control the senses? What for? Senses were there to make sure you enjoyed life to the fullest, not something to dull and cram in a little box. Senses were what allowed you to wallow in the moment and be happy.

_Be His Partner. A Sentinel Should Not Be Alone._ Okay not a problem. No one should be alone. Blair had been alone enough times in his life to learn to hate the silence. Anything was better when it could be shared.

_Take Care of Him._ Well that was mighty ambiguous. What if he didn’t want taken care of? After all, the Sentinel was an adult human—who was he to be telling him what to do. What if he got mad and yelled? Or worse? How much taking care of? Like making sure he ate right? Or fixing his mistakes? Keeping him safe? Just how far was this Taking Care of stuff supposed to go? And how was he supposed to accomplish anything without using magic? Or even fairy dust? How was he going to survive in the human world without the dust? He was fae, not some … some freaky human magician.

_Do Not Kill._ Well, he certainly wouldn’t have a problem with that one. 

Transform only when you are alone. If you are caught, we cannot help you. That wasn’t really a Rule, more of a threat. Hopefully, if he was caught, the Sentinel would rescue him a second time. _Then you’ll owe another Debt._ Yeah, better to transform only when necessary to exercise his wings.

 

~0~

 

Blair adjusted the heavy backpack again and kicked at the gravel as he walked along the side of the highway. Why couldn’t he just appear outside the Sentinel’s home? Why did he have to walk in a million miles from the city—Cascade—why couldn’t he at least fly in after dark and transform…

A truck whizzed by and Blair bent over, choking on fumes. How did mortals breathe this air? It was practically poisoned. Giving up for the moment, he carefully maneuvered his giant body to sit down on the edge of the ditch and rubbed smelly water droplets from his face. Sweat. Yuck. Looking around, he finally rubbed his palm against the cloth covering his legs. Jeans. With a sigh he realized he had to get over the anger and resentment or this wasn’t going to work at all. It wouldn’t do the Sentinel any good if he thought Blair was unwilling. He probably wouldn’t even discharge the Debt and Blair would be stuck here forever and ever, trapped in this noisy, smelly, disgusting mortal world. 

“Hey man! You want a ride?” A pickup truck filled to overflowing with teenagers stopped with a screech of rubber and a dark-haired guy leaned out the passenger window yelling at him. Blair looked up in surprise and saw a couple pretty girls in the back waving at him. “There’s room in the back.”

With an easy smile, he managed to stumble only once getting up and with a grateful nod, climbed over the tail-gate and scrunched down between them as the truck peeled out. 

“Hey. My name’s Blair. What’s yours?”

~0~


End file.
